Court documents state the victim initially identified West and Fernandez as being responsible for the crimes, and Guevara was charged after investigators concluded he had set up the victim to be robbed.

Police said the incident began when West and Fernandez confronted the victim while he was sitting in Guevara's Jeep in the parking lot of the Mobil station on North Main Street about 10 p.m. and demanded the money he had been counting. The victim said they stole about $650, according to the police report.

The two men got into the car with the victim, beat him and ordered Guevara to drive them toward New Fairfield, police said. But when the victim heard West say, "Let's just bring them into the woods and shoot them," he jumped out of the vehicle and made his way to the 7-11 store on Clapboard Ridge Road and called police, according to the report.

The victim was taken to Danbury Hospital, and while he was being treated, a hospital employee who knew several of the parties told investigators that she had seen Fernandez and West earlier, and when she inquired about an injury to Fernandez's left hand, he said "he had finally got (the victim) back for stealing money from him," police said in the report.

Fernandez also told the witness that he was staying at the Howard Johnson hotel in Bethel, where he, West and Guevara were taken into custody by Danbury and Bethel police, according to Danbury police spokesman Lt. Chris Carroccio.

Guevara eventually admitted that he had dropped off the other two at the Mobil station earlier in the evening, then picked up the victim and drove him to the same gas station to purchase drugs from him, according to the arrest affidavit. Police also said a packet of powdered cocaine was discovered in the victim's sock while he was being treated at the hospital.

All three suspects were arraigned in state Superior Court in Danbury on Tuesday, where they pleaded not guilty to first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping with a firearm, third-degree assault and threatening, in addition to the related conspiracy counts.

Judge Joseph Doherty set bond for West and Fernandez at $200,000 each, and at $75,000 for Guevara.